Theobald noticed the fact that he was being contradicted in a moment. He
got up from his arm-chair and went to the piano.
"No, Ernest, you don't," he said, "you say nothing of the kind, you say
'tum,' not 'come.' Now say 'come' after me, as I do."
"Tum," said Ernest, at once; "is that better?" I have no doubt he
thought it was, but it was not.
"Now, Ernest, you are not taking pains: you are not trying as you ought
to do. It is high time you learned to say 'come,' why, Joey can say
'come,' can't you, Joey?"
"Yeth, I can," replied Joey, and he said something which was not far off
"come."
"There, Ernest, do you hear that? There's no difficulty about it, nor
shadow of difficulty. Now, take your own time, think about it, and say
'come' after me."
The boy remained silent a few seconds and then said "tum" again.
I laughed, but Theobald turned to me impatiently and said, "Please do not
laugh, Overton; it will make the boy think it does not matter, and it
matters a great deal;" then turning to Ernest he said, "Now, Ernest, I
will give you one more chance, and if you don't say 'come,' I shall know
that you are self-willed and naughty.
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